


a tooth for a tooth

by thesevnthsense



Series: a body for a body [2]
Category: ATEEZ (Band), EXO (Band), NCT (Band), SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gang World, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Gang Violence, Kidnapping, M/M, Multi, Murder, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Police, Police Brutality, Rating: NC17, Suicide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-23 03:41:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30049356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesevnthsense/pseuds/thesevnthsense
Summary: "how did you manage to lose a tooth? aren't you beyond that phase of life?""shut up, just tell me where the nearest dentist is and how i can become a patient."
Relationships: Kang Yeosang/Na Jaemin, Lee Jihoon | Woozi/Mark Lee/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Mark Lee/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas
Series: a body for a body [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2014993
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> please check the tags for trigger warnings for this story! thank you very much~

As TN rang in the next new year, it was like they had forgotten that a little over a year ago, they lost one of their Ari. Most of the newer members didn't know him, so they weren't very phased by the passing date, but internally, it hit a couple people a little harder than expected.

Taeyong was hit hardest, along with Johnny and Mark, who both were cooped up in their apartments, ringing the night in silently.

A year was too long a time. It somehow felt like only days since everything happened. Mark tried not to think about any of it.

He had to move past that loss and continue on with life. By the mere meaning of the phrase, one could say he already had, but if going about every day numbly was moving on, Jaehyun would've been a saint.

Mark assumed the place Jungwoo was supposed to take.

He was haunted by the thought of walking into that room, seeing the faceless bodies of two of his former friends haunted as they laid dormant in that room. He didn't know if they were there anymore, or if they weren't, where they went.

He didn't want to know.

Taeyong had Ten and Yangyang deal with the room to his knowledge. He did his best to stay as far away from that room as they could.

Taeyong and Johnny figured it would be best to not touch any of his things, even the jacket that was originally Johnny's never got back into his possession.

There were dozens of new members by then. With the loss of Jaehyun, Jungwoo, Haechan, Winwin and Xiaojun, Taeyong knew whether he wanted more men or not, he needed more. Something like, over thirty men got recruited? A lot had happened since Jungwoo passed.

TN had a little more to its name by that point as well, which Taeyong liked. There was a little bit of fear going on in the city. Not mass hysteria and panic, but a sense of awareness not present before. Things around the complex moved smoother with more people around to do more tasks. They even had a place in the next city over where a couple of them owned a cafe and tattoo parlour.

Mark, despite being tired and low, enjoyed the greater presence around the complex. Seeing people around more made him smile a bit. The Amarantus' finally had a couple new people to hang around with, even if most of them were in the next city over at the cafe. They made their way over there a lot to visit them.

The main Amarantus around complex became Mingi, who Mark had grown rather fond over in the short span of time he had been there. Not a permanent resident in the complex, but he didn't live far enough to need to be. He was a fantastic artist, and many people around had him tattoo them in his spare time. He got money from it, they got high-quality art done on their bodies, it was a win-win scenario for them all.

Mark finally left his room as he saw Johnny and Dean starting up a fire in the centre of the cavern. The two were cracking jokes back and forth, as they had grown to do, while Yixing did his best to work with the mechanics of the building to open the skylights up. It was too cold to leave them open without a fire. It wasn't as warm as the year prior was.

"Mark! How you doing?" Dean started as he heard Mark's footsteps. Mark gave him that kind of smile where only your mouth curls up, while your eyes don't budge.

"I guess okay. Happy New year," he sighed back to him. Johnny walked over and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, roughly patting him on the back a couple times.

"Still bummed out?" Mark nodded. "Well, grab a blanket. Lucas said he'd be out here soon, so you have that to look forward to." Johnny knew Mark and Lucas had grown close since the incident occurred.

At the smell of smoke, more people started to come out of their rooms, including Lucas. Mark was already sitting on one of the blankets Johnny brought out for them, eating a cookie Jisung brought for the occasion. He said Chenle made them, but he "helped." Mark knew Jisung didn't do much more than bring them. They were good though, so he wasn't about to complain.

Chenle liked baking, and Jisung was glad he had found something to like other than coding.

Lucas took a seat beside Mark, his hand accidentally falling on top of the other's as he adjusts how he's sitting, before silently pulling it away.

"How you holding up?" Lucas asked him, settling into his spot and grabbing a cookie from its place on Mark's knee. He shrugged.

"Okay, I guess. As good as I can be. I'm glad you're here," he replied, trying to give Lucas a smile. Lucas gave him one back. Mark knew there was a little pain in his smile too, but he was at least better at hiding it.

Mark watched as a couple others settled in: Ten, Yixing, who returned from finally getting the skylights open, Taeil, who was also out for the first time in days, Sungchan and Shotaro, Mingi tattooing something on Sungchan's ankle, Sehun, Kai, and Renjun, smoking... something Mark couldn't decipher. All talked amongst themselves, while Mark stared into the fire.

Mark was relieved to see the night progress lightly. They all took shots at midnight, even some of the younger ones who technically weren't allowed to drink yet. That was the least of their worries; they'd already caused a whole lot more trouble than underage drinking.

By two in the morning, everyone was a little tipsy and giggly, having a good time sipping on drinks. Mark had taken one from Sungchan, who had stole his from a local liquor store. He had maybe two left after he offered Shotaro and Ten one each, which they both gladly took.

Lucas was chatting up a storm with Dean, who was going on about the girl he had spent the previous night with. Mark was shocked he hadn't brought anyone to the bonfire. He usually did. Lucas sober probably wouldn't have been interested, but drunk, Lucas was lapping that shit up.

Even Taeyong had joined them at midnight, offering a shot to Johnny, which they took hand in hand. Johnny was very straight, and Taeyong was very not, but Mark still had his suspicions about the things that may go on between the two of them.

Mark took another sip of his drink before leaning over so his head rested on Lucas' shoulder, turning his head to kiss his cheek.

"What's that for?" Dean posed, observant though drunk. His words didn't come out as clear as he had hoped.

"For fuck it. Ya know? Why not? If I wanna kiss Lucas and he's down, why the fuck not?" Lucas' eyes were wider than normal, his interest peaked, but also confused.

The two kissed. It was nice. Lucas was a good kisser, and Mark liked kissing him. No one else in the room paid any mind to it, so they figured why not.

So they kept kissing, for a good couple minutes. Intermittent pecks between deeper kisses. Lucas knew how to keep Mark on his toes, even though neither of them would be doing this sober.

Mark could've sworn he had seen Johnny grab Taeyong's ass at one point to, but with slightly blurred vision, he wasn't sure if he was just seeing things, or if the events were actually unfolding in front of him.

Shotaro tried to throw an empty bottle into the nearest garbage bin but missed. The bottle shattered on the floor. The entire group sighed in his direction.

"Hey, no one said I was good with aiming things!" No one said anything. "I'll clean it up in the morning..."

Lucas reached back and pulled the blanket up over his shoulder, before looking over at Mark.

"You cold too?" he asked softly, a small smile still tilting his lips. Damn was he cute. Mark didn't need to respond before his body did with a shiver. He pulled the other corner of the blanket over his shoulder, moving closer to Lucas so their sides were almost pressed together, where he laid his head on the shoulder between them.

Admittedly, he was getting tired, but he knew if he left the party before everyone else did, he'd surely miss the best part.

The two of them sat that way for a bit it felt, Mark didn't keep track of the time. He just knew he liked it. They didn't speak much to one another, or even the ones around them, just sat and enjoyed the warmth of the fire and each other.

He was brought back to his senses as a snowflake landed on his arm, melting slowly into a small, cool drop of water.

"Is it snowing?" Sungchan asked, pointing up at the sky and how the moon was no longer visible.

Renjun stuck out his tongue, to which Jisung followed in doing. Their tongues were stained red and purple respectively, surely from the drinks they were finishing up.

"Guess so," Renjun responded after catching a couple on his tongue. Jisung has a smile plastered on his face. The man liked snow, there was no denying that fact.

Yixing got up and jogged over to the box that kept the switch for the skylights' opening mechanism to close things back up, while Dean grabbed a bucket of water to put the fire out. Yixing knew he'd have to keep them open at least a bit for the smoke to make it out and not trip the entire smoke alarm system. It'd be a cold night in the cavern.

Taeyong and Johnny headed off together, which Mark would have been more suspicious about had he been sober, but it felt normal to him then.

And Mark knew it was time to call it a night.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning felt like it started too early, but Mark forced himself out of bed anyway. 10:30 wasn't all that early, but that thought left his brain as soon as it entered it. He needed to be out by 11, and that was all that mattered.

It had felt like forever since Mark had been on a run with the rest of the guys. In reality, it was only a couple of months, maybe four or so, but even days felt like years when he didn't leave his room.

Everyone who planned on going on runs that day stood in the cavern, alongside Taeyong who accounted for everyone going out.

Kai and Sehun were far too excited to get to head out to a jewelry store. Kai liked to pretend to accidentally steal things, but everyone in TN knew he just liked fine jewelry. Taeyong liked the extra money from the pawnshop trips, so he wasn't going to complain either.

Mark ended up with Doyoung and Jaemin, the three of them on a quick trip for a deal with a woman in town before heading out to a cafe front some of the Amarantus' were running just to check in on them, and no one was going to complain about coffee on a Saturday morning.

There was still a smouldering pile of ash in the center of the cavern, and if there wasn't a wire fence around the entrances, the entire area would've been full of smoke. It stung Mark's eyes, just a little.

The air was far chillier than Mark had remembered it being the year prior. He didn't remember a lot from the past year, but if there was anything he could do for himself in the new year, it'd be to make some sort of memories and do something with his life.

He blamed himself for a lot of what happened, thinking over all of it once again as he spun the contents of his coffee cup around the mug like one would do with fine wine. He should have just known, he figured. He didn't need a word, he could've just bashed in there.

But he didn't.

"Cold?" Jaemin asked, trying to bring Mark's attention back to the present scenario. Mark shook his head around a little to try and fling the thought away.

"A little, but it's no big deal." He pulled up the collar of his jacket, tightening it around his arms a bit. He needed a new one, hopefully sooner than later. The one he was wearing was too small.

Mark chose to stay in the car while Doyoung and Jaemin did the deal. He got the chance to look out the windows, up the sides of the skyscrapers, like he used to when he walked down the street with his mom as a kid.

He missed being a kid sometimes. Only sometimes.

Jaemin opened the backdoor of the car, and bounced in, disregarding the seatbelt entirely and sitting in the center of the two seats.

"How'd it go?" Mark asked, staring ahead of him at a crack in the road.

"Like a piece of pie, easy," Jaemin responded, dropping his backpack in the space on the floor between the driver's seat and the back seat.

"That's not how the saying goes, Jaemin," Doyoung commented as he took his place in the driver's seat.

"Eh, who cares smartass." Jaemin rolled his eyes. It wasn't that he and Doyoung didn't get along well, cause they did, it was just that Doyoung could be a little... snooty to say the least.

Mark chose to stay quiet for the drive. Jaemin and Doyoung only spoke to go over directions and change radio stations.

The cafe front some of the Amarantus kids ran, _Peaches and Creme_ , was actually a cat cafe, as per San's request. Mark didn't like cats much, but he wasn't too opposed to seeing the boys who worked there. They were all around his age, give or take, so he felt a little closer to them than he did some of the other new folks who came in.

As soon as the three of them were able to take a seat, Hongjoong was beside them, holding a tiny kitten in cupped hands.

"You look like you need a little friend, this is Coconut. She's a new resident here," Hongjoong stated, bending over a little to take the cold cup of coffee from Mark's hand. Mark kinda wanted the cat gone, but despite that thought, took the kitten from Hongjoong's hands and placed her on his lap, gently petting her.

Coconut must've taken note of Mark's reaction, as she hopped down from his lap to the floor, where she started to rub against his ankle for attention. He wasn't about to succumb to such a tiny thing. He figured as soon as he gave in, she'd bite him and then he'd like cats even less.

Doyoung was beyond hard at work already, finishing up one of his papers for school while petting an orange-striped kitten on his lap. Mark knew he wasn't going to be much help, but there wasn't much that needed to get done anyway.

"Sorry to abandon y'all so soon, but I've got somebody waiting on me in the back. Their name is Kye, ask the blue-haired one who comes out to see it," Hongjoong pointed out, before getting up. "The one in the skirt will take your order, I'll let him know you're here."

By the one in the skirt, he meant Yeosang, a bright-eyed boy with far more potential than the gang had given him. It was almost a shame that he had made it in. He could've done so much better than them.

Yeosang shuffled over rather quickly after his brief chat with Hongjoong, giving soft smiles to the three of them, Jaemin first.

"What would'ja like?" he asked them, bubbly and bouncy in tone. The skirt he wore swayed as he did. Jaemin couldn't help but smile a little.

"Cute..." he mumbled under his breath, resulting in a light-coloured blush tinting Yeosang's cheeks. "A chai?" Mark and Doyoung both got iced matchas.

Yeosang knew he was cute, but something about the way Jaemin said it made it feel a little different.

The three sat and drank and talked, as they had for New Years, just this time with Yeosang and Jaemin playfully hitting on each other the entire time, Doyoung doing schoolwork, and Mark staring into space again.

"How are _you_ doing, Mark?" Yeosang asked, bringing Mark's attention back to the room. Mark let out a breath before taking a sip of his tea. He didn't know how to answer that question.

"I'll take your silence as not great."


End file.
